From newborns to new notes: Growing our course offering this Autumn

At the start of the year, we set ourselves what seemed like an ambitious goal: develop and run two courses in 2025. With newborns and toddlers in tow, we wondered if we were being overly optimistic. But you know us – we love a good challenge!

Here we are at the height of summer, and we're thrilled to announce that course bookings are now open for our second Introduction to Piano course. Not only that, but we've been busy behind the scenes developing our new Level Up Piano course too.

We wanted to take a moment to share what they're all about. Whichever course you land on, we do ask that your child has expressed a real interest in music. Our number one priority is that they enjoy their lessons and to help their interest and confidence grow week by week.

Our Introduction to Piano course is perfect for absolute beginners aged 6-9 – no prior knowledge of piano or keyboard required! This course gently introduces students to the musical alphabet, foundational theory components, and four power chords: C, F, G major and A minor. It's good to know that there is a small element of reading lyrics involved in our class.

By the end of the course, we aim for students to play simple songs (including an adapted version of Bill Withers' Lean On Me), understand the basics of composition, and accompany themselves while singing. In our first course, we had fun singing along to Happy Birthday, Miley Cyrus' Flowers, Disney's Let It Go, and more popular tunes.

This course is ideal if your little one has expressed an interest in starting piano or keyboard and you're not sure where to begin, especially if you don't want to commit to private lessons straight away. You can read about our reflections from the first course here – the children's progress truly amazed us!

Level Up Piano Course

Level Up Piano is designed for children with some piano or keyboard experience, or those who have completed our beginner course, aged 7-10. This course introduces more advanced theory elements and additional chords, while building confidence with two-handed playing and exploring the exciting world of improvisation.

For this course, we ask that children are comfortable with the music alphabet (A-G), can play C-G with their right hand and C-F with their left hand whilst their thumb is on middle C, have some knowledge of note lengths (crotchets and quavers) and familiarity with a stave. Reading notation is not a prerequisite. 

Fun fact: we actually built this course after the children and parents from our first course asked us, "What's next?" What a wonderful way to cheer us on and show us we were on the right track.

Our Teaching Approach Remains the Same

As always, both courses are taught in a relaxed, group setting where we blend games, playing, and singing in Letchworth Garden City.

And seeing as a parent/responsible adult stays with each child, we love it when they get involved as well.

So, whether your child is just starting their musical journey or ready to level up their skills, we're here to support them every step of the way. Because at Viva Piano, we're not just teaching notes and chords – we're nurturing a lifelong love of music.

Ready to join? Course bookings are open now!